Differential diagnosis of Raynaud’s phenomenon based on modeling of finger thermoregulation

Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) is a vasospastic disorder of small arteries, pre-capillary arteries, and cutaneous arteriovenous shunts of the extremities, typically induced by cold exposure and emotional stress. RP is either primary (PRP) or secondary to connective tissue diseases such as systemic sclerosis (SSc). Early differential diagnosis is crucial in order to set the proper therapeutic strategy. To this goal, thermal infrared imaging data from 18 healthy controls (HCs) and 48 RP patients (20 PRP, 28 SSc) were processed through a model for a second-order time-invariant system with exponential critically damped dynamic response. Subject classification on the basis of the model parameters provides 100% true-positive discrimination for RP patients (PRP and SSc) and healthy, and 90% of correct classification within the group of patients. The proposed method may provide useful hints for early differential diagnosis in the assessment of RP disease.